Wizard or Sorcerer Spells as an Extension of Personality

[RangerWickett]

An NPC that I wish I'd had a chance to play, but could only have as an ally for the party, had a concept kind of like this. She was a dark Elf who was raised by a reclusive, eccentric magus far from any dark Elf cities, but still far underground. Her sorcerous adoptive father had died several years earlier, and the PCs came across her in trouble, and rescued her.

She had latent talent for magic, but she never really had much drive for it. Her father had always tried to teach her fire spells, but she wasn't much for fire.

The party used her guidance to help them find a route to the surface since they were lost, and she got them as close as she could, since the only exit she knew was guarded by a monster (a Dragon, actually). Thus, she had never seen the surface. The party fought the creature in a huge, vertical cavern, and at first the fight was going poorly when an earthquake seemed to shake the cavern with intense noise, and water started pouring down from the ceiling.

In the intensity of the waterfall, the dragon was unable to fly, so they managed to defeat it, but in the process, the dark Elf NPC was knocked unconscious. They carried her up the side of the cliff walls before the cavern flooded, and soon found a route to the surface.

When she came to, water was falling all around her from the top of a huge cavern ceiling, and the air was whistling around her, blowing her hair. She was confused at what was going on, but then she saw a swarm of jagged lines of light cascade across the sky. Lightning. In the land below, she had never seen such a thing, and it amazed her.

It took a few minutes for the rest of the group to get her up to date as to what happened, but less than half an hour later, she had already managed to figure out how to create small arcs of electricity between her hands. Since then, she's always been a lightning and wind kind of person (also, because of some problems with Illithids, she wholly eschews enchantment spells). As a 12th level sorcerer now, her spell list goes a little something like this.
5 5 4 3 2 1
1st--Arc of Lightning (like lesser electricity orb), Expeditious Retreat, Endure Elements, Shocking Grasp, True Strike
2nd--Alter Self, Cat's Grace, Whispering Wind, Web (well, she is a dark Elf), Protection from Arrows (wind deflects them)
3rd--Lightning Bolt, Tri'ni's Telepathic Tribulation* (her own spell, which disrupts mind-reading attempts), Dispel Magic, Fly
4th--Polymorphic Aura, Chaos Blast*, Improved Invisibility
5th--Rodinn's Rhyming Doom* (a spell her father, a wild spellcaster, created), Stone Shape (because of having to travel the underdark)
6th--Chain Lightning

I'm already preparing a lovely 9th level spell--Command Lightning. It's kinda like call lightning, only you create the storm automatically, and you can bring down bolts every round.

*This spell appears in Wild Spellcraft.

 

[mearls]

I always love giving my spells cool descriptions!

One of my favorite 3e characters was a barbarian/sorcerer whose totem animal was the falcon. All of his spells had a falcon aspect to them. His magic missile was a flight of swooping falcons, his daze was a falcon cry that stunned his target, and when he raged he turned into a half-man/half-bird creature.

As a DM, it's always fun to describe spells and give their mechanical effects without saying exactly what the spell is. In 2nd ed, while running an evil wizard who hit the party with a slow spell I described the wizard throwing a vial of molasses at the party, which exploded over them and caught everyone who missed their save in a gooey, sticky mess. It completely freaked the players out. Even a relatively simple spell, like summon swarm, becomes terrifying if you describe the wizard casting it as opening his mouth so wide his jaw touches the floor, allowing a horde of rats to pour out his mouth and rush towards the party's magic-user.

Little details like that help bring the game to life.

- Mearls

 

[Pillars of Hercules]

I like it

I always imagined magic users as similar to creatures from horror movies (werewolf, vampire, etc.). Not that they are evil, but rather that each of these creatures has certain specific powers and (usually) specific weaknesses, and that these powers and weaknesses conform to a theme. The fire mage above is a good example of this - very deadly in a chosen field with related spells.

I currently am playing a halfling sorceror who focuses on ray spells. I found it effective to take existing PHB spells and "port" them to cause a different but related effect. Thus, I took "Ray of Enfeeblement" and created "Ray of Awkwardness." It has the same "stats" as Ray of Enfeeblement, but instead of STR it reduces DEX and has a reflex rather than a fort save.

This has definitely created a character with a certain personality and that "cinematic" or "unique" feel, instead of the "magic missile/fireball factory" that many SOR and WIZ characters become.

 

[Kriegspiel]

I believe that the Dragon article Kriegspiel is referring to was in issue #200. "The Color of Magic," if I remember correctly. Great article.

That's the one! I knew I could count on there being at least one person on the board who'd act as a living index. (Unless you cheatd and looked it up on the CD!)

 

[Falcon]

Here is a sample list of spells chosen by an aristocratic rapscallion sorcerer who has fallen out of favor for more than his share of scandals;

Spells... 1st level: Pens of Passion (majick missle
- glowing envelopes that stab), The Dance of Fans
(shield), The Noble Word (charm person) and Library
Commune (identify).
2nd level: The Secret Tryst (rope trick) and Preview
of the Grave (ghoul touch).

I love the Secret Tryst one. I can only guess what he used that for on many a night.

 

[Deranged Youth]

Oooh, I love this thread! I havn't done anything quite like this yet, but I want to (arg, I don't get to play enough wizards).
For that, I give this thread five stars. Hurrah.
Keep posting, people whose inspiration exceeds mine!

 

[adndgamer]

*fudge -- edit*

I was thinking about this earlier today, while pondering how I could make magic less mechanical and more mystical. Have variations on the spells. Allow them to add a little touch of their own to them. The "Color of Magic" article was a good article...

 

[Falcon]

Does anyone know how to get a copy the particular article or issue of the Dragon it appeared in?

 

[adndgamer]

Hm. Well, I know that Wizards used to have backissues of Dragon (well, not the whole thing, but select articles) online. You could search there, for "The Color of Magic." As somebody else said earlier, it was in issue #200, a special edition issue, focusing on magic, and featuring a holographic circle on the cover (it was a crystal ball -- very cool ). It was the December 1993 iss. You can probably find one at a used bookstore. That'd be my best guess, and it's where I found mine.

Oh, and you might just be able to order it from the folks at Dragon magazine.

Good luck

 

[Hennet]

Double post

double post